Quick & Easy Sourdough Soda Bread {For Discard Starter}

Do you love to put fresh bread on the table every night?

I sure do!

But most days you simply don’t have time to do the whole waiting on bread to rise thing.

And those are the days that I turn to my favorite sourdough soda bread recipe!

Instead of yeast, a soda bread uses, you guessed it, baking soda and baking powder to rise. It’s activated by buttermilk in this recipe.

Do you remember that time in middle school science when you made that volcano?

And you put the baking soda in the middle and then that cute boy poured too much vinegar in?

You remember the gush of bubbles that came out and got all over that mean girl’s notebook? 

And then y’all didn’t get to go to recess because you had to clean up the floor?

Remember now?

Same thing happens here.

Only not nearly so dramatically…

With soda breads there’s no kneading and no waiting for it to rise.

You can mix it up and pop it straight in the oven and it can bake while you’re fixing dinner.

And as a bonus you can use discard starter!

 

Don’t have a sourdough starter yet? Grab a copy of my eBook “Learn How to Create a Sourdough Starter” and get yours going today!

 

So let’s do this!

Sourdough Soda Bread

• 1 c sourdough discard starter 
• ½ c buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp butter, melted
• 2-3 c flour
• ½ c rolled oats
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp sea salt
• ½ tsp baking soda

Start by preheating the oven to 400°F.

Now melt your butter. I like to melt mine in my cast iron melting pot.

Grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper and lightly sprinkle it with flour. Then set it aside.

Grab a medium bowl and whisk together the starter, buttermilk, the egg, and the melted butter.

Just as an aside, y’all, I love this flat whisk! It’s so much better than the ballon ones because you don’t have to dig stuff out of the middle.

In a separate, larger bowl, mix together 2 cups of flour, the rolled oats (keeping a few aside to sprinkle on the top), baking soda, baking powder, and the sea salt.

Now we’re going to add the sourdough buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix that up well. It will be a sticky dough.

If it’s dry and crumbly add a little more buttermilk a Tbsp at a time. If it’s really sticky add some more flour a Tbsp at a time.

You want it kinda sticky, but you need to be able to form it into a ball. The picture there is way too sticky. I added quite a bit more flour.

Now form the dough into a ball and place it on the center of your prepared baking sheet.

Using a pastry brush, brush buttermilk on the top of the dough. Then sprinkle a few oats over the top.

To make sure it rises well, grab a sharp knife or a bakers lame and cut a deep “X” across the top. And by deep, I mean it needs to go about 1/3 of the way down.

Pop that baby into the preheated oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the top is a beautiful golden brown.

You should let the bread cool for about 15 minutes before you cut it.

If you can. 🙂

I usually can’t…

This sourdough soda bread is great with any meal just the way it is. But sometimes if we’re having something Italian inspired, I’ll brush it with garlic butter instead of buttermilk.

I store the little bit that’s left over in a linen bread bag.

I have no idea how long this might last sitting on the counter, because I’ve never had any longer than 3 days.

It makes great toast with butter and jam, and a pretty awesome French Toast.

Assuming you didn’t put garlic butter on it. Because if you did, that would make terrible French Toast…

More Sourdough Discard recipes you’ll enjoy:

Easy Sourdough Vanilla Chai Latte Bread

Easy Sourdough Banana Nut Bread with Chocolate Chips

The Best Chocolate Chip Sourdough Scones You’ll Ever Eat

Award Winning Sourdough Peanut Butter Cookies